The Parting Glass
by bethyl's songbird
Summary: Charlotte Grimes does not going to take shit from people, and if anybody thinks she will, they're wrong. Set in Season 1.


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my OC: Who is faced by Crystal Reed.

**Author's Note: **This is a fic I'd wrote a while ago but decided to post it now, idk why. My OC: Charlotte is Rick and Lori's oldest daughter and idk If I should make it a Daryl/OC or not but she'll be close to him.

* * *

><p><strong>Tell it to the Frogs<strong>

The young girl sat on the chair ground, in a slight huff, fiddling with the dirt as her brother fidgeted while his mother cut his hair and she dug the stick she'd picked up into the mood.

"You keep frownin' you'll get wrinkles"

She looked up and glared heatedly at the man in front of her "Shut up" She said and looked down.

"In a huff?"

"Shut up, asshole" She muttered and he laughed.

"That's enough of the language, Charlotte" Her mother said and Charlotte threw a look at her and looked back to the dirt.

"Yeah well I'd be fine, if you'd let me go"

"You're not goin' out into the woods with Dixon" Shane said.

"You're not the boss of me, Shane" Charlotte snarled.

"No, but I am. And Shane's right" Lori said and Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, Shane's always right" She said sarcastically. "Glenn didn't get a bow for nothin'. And Daryl's been teachin me. You know that"

"No" Both Lori and Shane said.

"I'm not some kid. You don't have that right over me anymore. Carl's the kid" She said.

"Hey!" Carl huffed from his seat as he squirmed.

"Baby, the more you fidget, the longer it takes. So don't, okay?"

"I'm trying" Carl moaned.

"Well, try harder"

"If you think this is bad, wait till you start shaving. That stings. That day comes, you'll be wishing for one of your mama's haircuts" Shane said.

"I'll believe that when I see it" Carl

Shane chuckled "I'll tell you what… you just get through this with some manly dignity and tomorrow I'll teach you something special. I will teach you to catch frogs"

"I've caught a frog before"

"I said frogs… plural. And it is an art, my friend. It is not to be taken lightly. There are ways and means. Few people know about it. I'm willing to share my secrets" Shane said while looking at Lori. Charlotte scoffed and shook her head. Carl looked at Lori unsure of what to say.

"Oh, I'm a girl. You talk to him." She said.

"It's a one-time offer, bud... not to be repeated" Shane said.

"Why do we need frogs, plural?" Carl asked.

"You ever eat frog legs?"

"Eww!" Carl complained.

"No, yum!"

" No, he's right. Eww" Lori said.

"When you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna be loving those frog legs, lady. I can see it now… "Shane, do you think I could have a second helping, please? Please? Just one?" Shane said, mocking Lori. Charlotte looked up and looked between the two of them and narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, I doubt that"

Shane laughed again "Don't listen to her, man. You and me, we'll be heroes. We'll feed these folks cajun-style Kermit legs"

"I would rather eat miss piggy. Yes, that came out wrong" Lori said.

Shane laughed. "Heroes, son, spoken of in song and legend. You and me, Shane and Carl" Carl and Shane laughed.

Charlotte heard it first, and stood moving towards Dale, the closer she got the more she realized it was "Is that a car?" She asked looking up at Dale.

"Hey, Dale, Can you see what it is?"

"Talk to me Dale!" Shane said standing beside Charlotte.

"I can't tell yet" Dale said.

"I bet it'a sports car or somethin. And I bet you any money it's Glenn. He told me he always wanted a really fast car." Charlotte grinned.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked moving beside Shane and Charlotte.

"I'll be damned" Dale said.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"A stolen car is my guess" Dale said.

"Called it" Charlotte ginned.

Glenn pulled in and smiled "Hello"

"Holy crap, Turn that damn thing off!" Dale said.

"Pop the hood please! Pop the damn hood please"

Everybody began shouting until eventually Glenn popped the hood and Shane turned off the alarm.

"Everybody shut it!" Charlotte growled at them all. "Let him breathe"

"Are you crazy driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?"

"I think we're okay" Dale said.

"You call bein stupid okay?" Shane asked.

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" Dale said to Glenn.

"Sorry. ...Got a cool car" Glenn said and then the truck pulled up.

Everybody getting out, and the other kids running to their family members, Charlotte noticed Lori shoo Carl away and she sighed, Shane put an arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him. She sighed as Shane rubbed her arm.

"I miss my dad" She muttered.

"I know, Lottie. I know" He said with a frown.

"You are welcome sight. I thought we'd lost you folks for sure" Dale said.

"How'd you get out'a there anyway?" Shane asked.

"New guy. He got us out" Glenn said.

"New guy?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, crazy vato just got into town. Hey helicopter boy, come say hello!. Guy's a cop like you"

Charlotte looked slightly with Shane and her heart stopped "No..." She said, moving away from Shane, shaking her head and he seen both her and Shane. "Dad.." She mumbled. Her eyes welled up. "DAD!" She screamed.

"Oh my god" Rick said.

"DAD! DAD!" Carl screamed and both he and Charlotte ran at him.

He caught Charlotte first, almost toppling over onto his ass, as they both ran into him and he caught Carl next, lifting him up off the ground, his arm around Charlotte as he slowly bent over the two of them, the two of them wailing like children. He got up, still holding the two of them close, as he then put his arm out to Lori and the four of them holding onto each other. Charlotte looked past her dad at Shane, who was looking at Lori, her eyes, still watering narrowed but she looked away and buried her face into the side of Rick's neck.

* * *

><p>They all sat around the camp, Carl and Charlotte tucked in at Rick's side, Lori at other side of him. Charlotte's eyes glanced towards the woods however and then to Shane, who was staring at Rick. And she frowned. She knew it, this was going to cause problems, a lot of problems. Because she knew he'd been sleeping with her mom and she knew he was in love with her.<p>

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but… Disoriented comes closest." Rick said.

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short" Dale said.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever" Rick replied and Charlotte looked up at him.

"Mom said you died" Carl said and Charlotte's hand went across his forehead.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it" Rick told Carl.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened" Lori said.

"Well I'm not surprised, after Atlanta fell" Rick said.

"Yeah" Lori breathed.

"And from the look of the hospital it got overrun" Rick said.

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barley got them out, y'know?" Shane said. "Charlotte made just a little bit harder"

Charlotte's eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips. "Well I kept telling you he wasn't dead. Some people just didn't accept that" She said and Shane gave her a nod and looked back at Rick.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you Shane, I can't begin to express it" Rick said and Charlotte could see the look on her mother's face.

"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things" Dale said.

"Hey Ed, you wanna rethink that log?" Shane said and Charlotte turned her head.

She cringed at the sight of the large man across camp and her lips pursed again. She couldn't stand Ed, she hated the sight of him. Especially cause she knew what he was doing to Sophia and Carol.

"It's cold, man" Ed replied.

"Shane set rules for a reason" Charlotte called. "So nobody could see us"

"Keep your fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance" Shane said.

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once" Ed said and Shane got up and moved over towards him.

"He's an ass" Charlotte said.

"Charlotte" Lori said.

"Well he is"

"Girl's right" Andrea said and Charlotte grinned.

A few minutes later, Shane came back over and sat down again.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind" Dale said.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me" T-Dog said.

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine" Rick said.

"He's gonna kick somebody's ass for it" Charlotte said. Rick rubbed her shoulder.

"Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy" Glenn said.

"I did what I did. Hell if I m gonna hide from it" T-Dog said.

"We could lie" Amy said.

"Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's" Andrea said.

"And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise… We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt" Dale said.

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it" T-Dog said.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asked him.

" I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that… Not that chain, not that padlock. My point… Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us" T-dog said as he got up.

* * *

><p>"I found you, didn't I?" Rick asked, both Carl and Charlotte as they stared up at him.<p>

"I love you, dad" Carl said and Rick smiled.

"I love you, Carl" He said and kissed Carl's forehead, Carl turned over and curled into Charlotte.

"I knew you were alive" Charlotte said quietly.

Rick smiled. "How?"

"Nobody's as tough as you" She said and he smiled down at her "I love you"

"I love you too, Lottie" He said and he kissed her forehead too before he moved over to Lori, Charlotte listened to them for a few moments before drifting off to sleep.

It felt like a few seconds but when she opened her eyes again, it was light outside and she moved seeing that her parents were still asleep, but Carl wasn't and he was sitting up.

"Hey, Bud" She said and he smiled at her. "C'mon. We'll go see Sophia and Carol, huh?"

"Yeah" He nodded and the two of them moved themselves from the tent.

As Carl went to Sophia, Charlotte looked around noticing that Shane was busy talking to Dale, so she picked up the bow that was sitting outside her tent, and some of the arrows that Daryl had given her. She scurried off to the woods, trying not to be noticed. She went to the tree not too far from the camp, seeing that the marks were still there from last time she'd practiced.

She pulled the bowstring back far enough and let go, the arrow piercing the tree.

"Charlotte" A voice said and she jamp in surprise, turning to see Shane. "What the hell are you doin?" He demanded.

"Practicing" She said and he frowned.

"Come on, back to camp" He said.

"You don't tell me what to do, Shane. You're not my dad" She said and he seemed to flinch, and instantly she felt bad. "I didn't mean-"

"Come on Now, Charlotte. Back to Camp" He said, his tone hard and she sighed, moving forward to grab the arrow and yanked it out of the tree and headed back. She threw the bow and arrows down outside the tent just as her Mom came out.

"Where were you?"

"Practicing"

"You're not supposed to have this" Lori said pointing at the bow and arrow "And Daryl Dixon-"

"Don't even go there" Charlotte hissed. "You can't say anythin' about me wanting to learn how to protect myself"

Lori stared at her, a frown on her face "Don't use that tone-"

"I want to learn how to protect myself and Daryl's the best one to be able to do it. You all judge too much. Yeah sure Merle's an asshole, but he's not that bad. And Daryl's a good guy. He said he'd teach me and you better cut this bullshit with me out. I'm allowed to learn how to protect myself, Mom"

She walked past Lori just as Rick came out of the tent and she hurried off, and went to see Carl who was with Sophia. Just as she was getting closer screams began "Carl!" She shouted and hurried towards them and when she got there, she saw the walker. Sophia, Carl and Carol took off but Charlotte stood where she was. "That's gross" She said. A hand grabbed her shoulder and she saw her dad.

That's when Morales, Glenn, Dale, Shane and Rick started hitting it with objects and Charlotte crossed her arms. Eventually Dale cut off it's head and she took a step back, she turned seeing Andrea and Amy.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain" Dale said.

"Well they're runnin' out of food in the city. That's what" Jim said.

Branches started snapping and crunching sounds could be heard, everybody got ready but when Daryl walked out they all sighed.

"Oh jesus" Dale said shaking his head.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer. Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard" Daryl said as he kicked it.

"Calm down son, that's not helping" Dale said.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond"?" Daryl snapped and they all looked at him. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that" Shane said shaking his head.

Daryl sighed "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel. ...Bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do" He said.

The walker's mouth opened the it began opening and closing it's mouth.

"Oh god" Amy said and Andrea led her away.

Charlotte stared it, in amazement. "Come on people, what the hell" Daryl said and he shot it in the head, before moving over to it and taking out the arrow. "It's good be the brain. Don't ya'll know nothin?" He walked past them all and they all turned to look at him. Rick moving, after Shane and he grabbed Charlotte's arm.

They all walked back to camp.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up" Daryl called.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you" Shane said.

Everybody went silent. "Bout what?" Daryl asked.

"About Merle. There was a... there was a problem in Atlanta" Shane said.

"He dead?" Daryl asked.

"We're not sure" Shane said.

"He either is, or he ain't" Daryl spat.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it" Rick began and Charlotte chewed her lip.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked.

"Rick Grimes"

"Rick Grimes, you got somethin' you wanna tell me?" Daryl spat.

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him to a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there" Rick said.

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're sayin' you hancuffed my brother to a roof? And you left him there?!" Daryl shouted, angrily.

"Yeah" Rick said, calmly.

Daryl looked away and then back at him, rubbing his hand over his face and then turned, growling at him as he threw the Squirrels right at Rick, who dodged them. When he went for Rick, Shane grabbed him and ended up putting him in a headlock after he took out his knife.

"Okay, Okay" Shane said.

"You best let me go" Daryl shouted.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't" Shane said.

"Choke hold's illegal" Daryl choked.

"You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day" Shane said.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked him.

"Hmm?" Shane hummed.

"Mmm. yeah" Daryl managed and Rick nodded at Shane and Shane let him go.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work or play well with others" Rick said.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had a key. I dropped it" T-Dog said.

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asked.

"Well, I dropped it down a drain" T-Dog said.

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't" Daryl said, angrily.

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks couldn't get at him… With a padlock. It's gotta count for something" T-Dog said.

"It's got to count for somethin'" Rick said.

"To hell with all of ya'll! Just tell me where he is, so I can go get 'im" Daryl said.

"He'll show you" Lori said and Charlotte looked past Daryl at her. "Ain't that right?"

"I'm going back" Rick said and with that Lori turned and walked into the RV. Charlotte's eyes widened. Daryl stared at him, gave him a slight nod and then turned. Walking off, and Rick turned catching sight of the look on his daughter's face and he frowned, walking past her.

"Hold up" She called and walked after him. "Dad"

"I know. I have to go back" He said.

"I want to come" She said and he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her.

"No" He said.

"Dad-"

"No, Charlotte. No"

"There's no argument. If you're goin' so am I" She said and he shook his head furiously and went into the tent and she followed him. "Come on"

"No" He said firmly.

"I'm comin'" She said.

"Charlotte-"

"Listen, all Mom and Shane have done for the past few months is belittle me. I'm big enough, I can use a bow. Daryl's been teaching me, Merle even showed me how to use a gun the other week" She said "What if something had to happen to you and Mom..huh? And it was just me and Carl? How am I supposed to defend myself if I don't know how?"

He stared at her, in disbelief. "Charlotte you can't-"

"Daddy, I thought you were dead. I thought I'd lost you and I can't go through that again." She said. "I want to be able to see what it's like without being shielded from it. You can't always do that. Not anymore" He couldn't form words and there was part of Charlotte that hoped he would tell her yes, but she wasn't sure if she'd won the argument yet or not. "Please"

That was when Lori entered the tent "Absolutely not"

"You can't keep shielding me from this, it's the world we live in! There's gonna be day when you're not here and I'm the one who's gotta look after Carl. We don't know how many days we've got left, I gotta know how to do this and if you don't let me I'm as good as dead"

"Charlotte" Rick spoke softly.

"Rick don't you dare"

"I'm going with him and you can't stop me" Charlotte said, eyes narrowed.

Lori, in disbelief and in anger stormed from the tent and Charlotte looked at Rick who shook his head. "You're not gonna give up?"

"No. I need to do this" She said and he frowned.

* * *

><p>Charlotte was sitting across from Daryl, as he fixed up his bow. He glared at her every now and then and she looked up at him, making sure nobody was listening.<p>

"Stop it" She said and he frowned.

"Stop what?" He grunted.

"Glarin' at me. I'm going and that's all there is to it"

He rolled his eyes, and stood and looked in the direction of Shane and Rick. "You're gonna risk yours and your daughter's life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey, choose your words more carefully" Daryl said.

"No, I did. Douchebag is what I meant" Shane said and Charlotte rolled her eyes. Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst"

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being" Rick said.

"So you, our daughter and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori demanded.

Rick sighed and turned to Glenn "Oh, come on"

"You know the way. You've been there before… In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too"

"That's just great now you're gonna risk three men and your daughter?"

"Stop putting "Your daughter" in there like it's gonna talk him out of me going" Charlotte said. "Cause it's not"

Shane rolled his eyes and looked to Rick. "Four men and Charlotte" A voice said and they all turned to look at T-dog.

Daryl huffed "My day just keeps gettin' better and better" He snapped.

"You see anybody else standin' up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog asked.

"Why you?" Daryl asked.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language"

"That's five" Dale said.

"Four and a Kid" Shane said. Charlotte glared at him. "It's not just four and a kid, You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp"

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns" Rick said.

"Right. The guns" Glenn said.

"Wait. What guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up"

"Ammo?" Shane asked.

"700 rounds, assorted" Rick said.

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're just gonna turn around and leave?" Lori asked. "And take our daughter with you?"

"Dad I don't want you and Char to go" Carl said and they turned to look at him, Charlotte moving over to her brother.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand" Lori said.

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him" Rick said.

"So what's stopping you?" Lori asked.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer" Rick said.

"These our walkie talkies?" Shane asked.

"Yeah" Rick nodded.

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asked.

"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap… Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth… Not even the scanners in our cars." Shane said.

"I need that bag. Okay?" Rick asked.

"Okay" Lori said he turned and approached Carl and Charlotte.

"Okay?" He asked and Carl nodded.

* * *

><p>Charlotte got into the back of the van and moved to speak to Glenn but Daryl stopped her.<p>

"You shouldn't be comin' kid" Daryl said and she turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well if I don't and my dad had to die to save your brother's ass, Dixon. I'd blame you"

"So you're not coming to learn how to protect yourself?" Glenn asked.

"Sort of" Charlotte said.

"Sort of?" Glenn asked.

"I wanna make sure my dad comes back"

"Even if you don't?" Daryl asked.

"Yup" She said popping the P.

Daryl sighed and he moved past her as she took a seat and he put his foot on the horn. "Come on, let's go!" He shouted and he moved over after T-dog got in and closed over the shutter.

* * *

><p>"He'd better be okay" Daryl said and Charlotte looked at him and then round at T-Dog, who had his arm around her shoulder.<p>

"It's my only word on the matter. I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us" T-Dog said.

The van stopped and Glenn spoke. "We walk from here" He said and then all got out.

"You stay close" Rick said to Charlotte and she nodded.

They got to the gate and they cut through it.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked.

" Merle! We ain't even having this conversation" Daryl snapped.

"We are. You know the geography. It's your call" He said looking at Glenn.

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first" Glenn said.

They hurried through the streets and got into the building, Daryl shot one of the walkers who'd turned round with it's jaw hanging off.

"You are one ugly skank" He said and he pulled the arrow out.

Eventually they all reached the roof and cut off the chain with the padlock.

"Merle! Merle!" Daryl shouted, but when he stopped, they all stopped. He began to let out choking sobs. "No! No!"

Everyone stayed silent. "No!" Charlotte stared, the only thing left of Merle was a hacksaw, a blood and his hand. "No! No!" 


End file.
